Golf Betting Tips: WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay Preview & Predictions

Well here it is, the first WGC event on the golfing calendar as we look forward to the WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay at Austin Country Club, Texas.

The name says it all really, this is a Matchplay event just to spice things up with the world's Top 64 players in attendance, all fighting it out for a share of the $12m prize purse with the winner collecting the title and a cool $2.16m.

The best way to explain this event with its knockout group format etc, it’s kinda like golf's answer to the Champions League where anyone can knock out anyone amongst the world's golfing elite and it’s always an exciting spectacle to keep us armchair fans entertained from start to finish.

Sixteen groups of four kick-off, sorry, Tee Off on Wednesday all the way through to Friday with the advancing sixteen group winners then fighting it to the quarters, semis and then the grand finale on Sunday. You get the picture eh?

Billy Horschel returns to defend the title he won last year. Tiger Woods has won this event three times while Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvie have both won twice.

Austin Country Club will be playing 7,108 yards long this week and is a par 71 parkland layout, the course is another designed by Pete Dye and has been hosting the WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay since 2016.

The weather is forecast to be sunny and very warm throughout with breezes expected to peak at around 22mph.

This event will be screened on Sky Sports Golf & Sky Sports Main Event with live coverage starting at 2.30pm GMT on Wednesday.

It was yet another ‘nearly' at the weekend for us with both our selections finishing in the place money at The Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour. Justin Thomas finished T3rd while the main selection, Matthew Fitzpatrick, came home just a tad further behind with a T5th place.

Because this is a Matchplay event and almost anything can happen, the prices are often boosted more than we are used too. That’s good news for us punters but first of all we have to pick the winner so without further ado, let’s focus all our attention and try to narrow down the field for this week's WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay in Austin, Texas.

Patrick Cantlay

For my first and main selection I’m going to single out Patrick Cantlay 22/1 EW Bet365.

The 30 year old from Long Beach, California and current FedEx Cup Champion has to, like everyone else, win the group first and foremost.

Cantlay will be playing in the round robin group which includes Sungjae Im, Seamus Power and Keith Mitchell. It’s probably fair to say that the seeded Cantlay could have had things much tougher and I’m liking his chances to progress and win this group.

With that out the way then Cantlay can unleash his talent and I’d say anyone in this format will want to avoid him especially early on.

Currently ranked the 4th best player on the planet, I’m not allowing the missed cut last time out at The Players Championship to put me off, I can think of many other big names who also missed the cut at Sawgrass.

Before the Genesis Invitational where he finished 33rd, Cantlay had not finished outside the Top 10 at his six previous starts, truly remarkable.

It all started when he won the BMW Championship then he was in contention at all his next five events, probably most unlucky when finishing runner-up at the Phoenix Open. At all three of these events he finished 4th, AT&T Pebble Beach, Sentry Tournament of Champions and The Tour Championship.

This year alone Cantlay has only played at six events and has finished inside the Top 10 at four of them. He’s like the silent assassin and my advice is ignore Cantlay at your peril.

He is usually one of those players who never lets us down when we select him so I’m hoping Patrick Cantlay can continue that trend to the delight of us all when he’s crowned the WGC Dell Matchplay Champion on Sunday evening.

Scottie Scheffler

For my next pick I’m going to advise the man of the moment, Scottie Scheffler 18/1 EW Bet365.

The 25 year old from New Jersey is on fire just now and it wouldn’t make sense to leave him out this weekend. I mentioned only a few weeks back that Scheffler would win his maiden PGA title soon, I even tipped him to win his first at the Phoenix Open where he duly obliged but he has since went on to win another.

It’s absolutely amazing what Scheffler has achieved in the past few weeks in the game of golf. He now has two PGA titles to his name, the other being the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This is all since the start of this year and it’s still only March.

With those two victories, Scheffler has now risen up to World Number 5 in the rankings. This talented kid is more like a magician these days, it’s not as if it wasn’t coming with so many recent runners-up prizes and near misses including 2nd at the Houston Open and 2nd also at the Hero World Challenge.

With that monkey off his back expect Scheffler to keep on winning and as I’ve also mentioned previously, there could be a major in the bag this year just to put a cherry on top.

In fact there could be a WGC crown in there as well and it could well be this weekend if Scottie Scheffler continues to be too hot to handle in the Texas sunshine from Wednesday through to Sunday's final where no one can touch him yet again.

Ian Poulter

For my next selection I’m going to try and think out the box and look for some good old value. For sure there will be some each-way value to be had but it’s just finding it. For this reason I’m going to include Ian Poulter 100/1 EW Bet365.

The veteran 46 year old from Hitchin, England will for sure enjoy this Matchplay format more than most, he’s the Matchplay king after all.

His best recent performances are 6th at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and also 6th at the DP World Tour Championship so he does have some recent form to go on. Saying that, I’d be willing to throw the form book out the window this week with this format as there's always potential for an upset especially at these events.

It’s all about keeping that winning mentality from start to finish and if anyone has expertise and experience in this field when it comes to Matchplay then it’s Poulter. He doesn’t get called the Postman for nothing, just check out his Ryder Cup stats and you’ll see for yourself he always delivers.

He has won two WGC events in the past including this event when it was the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship in 2010, the other WGC title was the WGC HSBC Champions in 2012. Another Matchplay event the Postman has delivered is the Volvo World Matcplay Championship over on the DP World Tour so you can safely see where I’m going with this.

If the veteran Englishman can get to the semi-finals then you will be guaranteed some place money hoping he can then go all the way and make the firms look silly at a very tasty looking 100/1.

WGC Dell Technologies Matchplay Tips

• Patrick Cantlay 22/1 EW Bet365
• Scottie Scheffler 18/1 EW Bet365
• Ian Poulter 100/1 EW Bet365

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